"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" See More...

Repent & Believe

Friday, September 6, 2013

How Can I KNOW If God Has Saved Me? - Part 2

Examine Yourselves, Prove Your Own Selves - This is a very important question that we should all seriously consider, “How Can I KNOW If God Has Saved Me?”. This question gets to the essence of what life is all about. God tells us everything we need to know with regard to His salvation plan for mankind in His Book, the Bible, and God explains that assurance of our salvationis indeedpossible as 1 John 5:11-13 explains. We must realize that God does ALL the work of salvation. The Bible teaches that we cannot save ourselves. No church, no religious ritual, no person, and no human effort can save us. Only the work done by the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross and by the Holy Spirit in our hearts can save us. Believing, or having “faith”, in the Lord Jesus Christ is the result of salvation – not the cause of it. Rom 5:10 declares that if God has saved you, your spiritual war with God has ended: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall besaved by his life”. In other words: If God has saved you from Hell, the Lord Jesus Christpaid for ALL of your sinswithHis life so that you now have eternal life, and you made no contribution to your salvation in any way, as Tit 3:4-7 declares. However, if God does not save you before you die or the Lord Jesus Christ returns in judgment, you will face eternal damnation in Hell under the wrath of God as a payment for your own sins. If God has already saved you from eternal damnation, He has put His Spirit within you and resurrected your soul (that is, you became a new creaturein Christ); as God stated in the verses Eze 36:26-27 and 2 Cor 5:17. In 2 Cor 13:5 and 2 Pet 1:10, God commands us toevaluate our spiritual conditionto determine if we truly havereceived the gift of eternal lifebased on what theBible teaches about salvation. In this second part of the study we will ask ourselves several questions based on the biblical evidences of salvation to help us “examine” the state of our souls. May God cause each of us to seriouslyexamine our self in the light of His Word to discover whether we are indeed a child of God or not. If we are not (or are not sure), wonderfully today is still the day of salvation; and we can cry out to God for mercy, read His Word, and wait (trusting altogether) on Him.

1 John 5:11-13 “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Tit 3:4-7 “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly throughJesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Eze 36:26-27 “Anew heartalso will I give you, and anew spiritwill I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will putmy spiritwithin you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

2 Cor 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

2 Pet 1:10 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and electionsure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

Do you have an earnest and a continual Desireto Obeythe Will of God as set forth in the Bible? - It is amazing that God would reveal Truth from His Word to those who have become His children by means of the new birth. Luke 10:21 states: “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thatthou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight”. However, God also indicates that the truth which He alonereveals is meant to be obeyed. This is the thrust of the statement we find in Luke 6:46, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” and should be the result of all Bible study. What we learn in the pages of the Bible is not to be used to show how much we know, or how much we can assimilate, or how much we can explain; rather, it is to be humbly obeyed. Rom 7:5 portrays man’s inherent inability to be under, or obedient to, God’s Wordprior to salvation: “Because thecarnal[unsaved] mindis enmity [or hatred] against God: forit is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”. It is important to recognize that the phrases “in the flesh” and “carnal mind” refer to one who is unsaved. On the other hand, the phrases “in the spirit” and “under grace” are speaking about one who is saved. Eze 36:26-27 so beautifully illustrates the reality of the new birth and the characteristic of one who have been raised from spiritual death to life and become a “new creature” – an insatiable desire to be obedient to the Word of God: “... I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them”. Obedience is the evidence of Salvation. John 8:31 continues : “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;” and 1 John 2:6 insists as well, “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he [that is Christ] walked”.

Eze 36:26-27 “Anew heartalso willI[God]giveyou, and anew spiritwillI putwithin you: and I will take awaythe stony heartout of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

John 14:15 “If ye love me [Jesus Christ], keep my commandments.”

Rom 2:13 “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the lawshall be justified.”

Jam 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

1 John 2:3-5 “And hereby we do know that we know him [Jesus Christ], if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

Do you have “Spiritual peacewithGod” and “Spiritual peaceofGod”? - One of man’s greatest desires is to live in peace, or the absence of war and strife. However, wars are the result of man’s sinful nature and will never be abolished on this sin-cursed earth. As “the Prince of Peace” many people think that Jesus came to bring some kind of political or
secular peace among nations or groups of people. Jesus dispelled all doubts about His purpose for coming to this earth in Matt 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”. Why then is the Lord Jesus called “the Prince of Peace” in the Bible? A spiritual warbetweenGodand rebellious mankind exists, as we read in Rom 8:7 “Becausethe carnal [unsaved] mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”. Jesus came to bring peacebetween God and His people. The peace that results from salvation is called “peacewithGod” in Rom 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. True believers have peace with God because of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross that has “reconciled” them to God, as explained in 2 Cor 5:19: “To wit, thatGod was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation ...”. Do you have an ongoing desire to thank and praise God through prayer as you learn to trust Him more and more in every aspect of your life? In other words, Do you have “peace of God”? When we have become reconciled to God by salvation, God also gives us the “peaceofGod”, according to Php 4:6-7. In John 14:27 Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”. Faith to trust Him results from the “peaceofGod”.

2 Cor 5:18-20 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

Php 4:6-7 “Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplicationwith thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and mindsthrough Christ Jesus”.

Eph 6:17-18 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplicationin the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

1 Thess 5:16-18 “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Pro 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”